What We Knew
by Sierrakoi
Summary: B/V: After a lab accident, Vegeta is left with two minds and one body. The extra mind? None other than his old self that 'died' on Namek. Can Bulma help the Saiyajin no Ouji before he loses control, or will she become a victim to his anger's rebirth?
1. Chapter One: Impatience, Distrust

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Disclaimer: I do not own this program.

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((Kay...this is my first shot at a Bulma/Vegeta fic. I have no idea how it's going to turn out- so I'm depending solely on you readers to steer me along and give me ideas. I'm hoping this fic will come out well!)) 

**__**

What We Knew

Chapter One: Impatience, Distrust

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"He treats me like I'm his- his slave!"

Mr. Briefs, the widely known scientific genius, peered at his latest invention while scrutinizing his daughter. Bulma was perhaps the only person he considered on his intellect level, and the only one who gave him more headaches then anyone else. That is, besides the saiyajin no ouji who shared their house. And that particular saiyajin was the one that had roused this discussion in the first place.

"Bulma dear, you know it's a hard adjustment for someone of his stature..." Mr. Briefs sympathized as he clicked on his mouse, turning his attention back to the screen in front of him. "Now what to do with the A cable..?"

Bulma sighed exasperatedly, waving a hand in front of her father's face. "Daddy! He has no right to treat me this way, and you just let it happen!" She puffed out her bottom lip, but her cerulean eyes were blazing. She loved a good argument, and her father wasn't complying.

Mr. Briefs rolled his gaze back to his daughter. "Bulma, you're the one who invited him to live here. Besides, he has no intention to cause any havoc to us or you. If he did you'd know I'd be the first one to do something about it."

Bulma wasn't sure how to respond to that. She HAD been the one to invite him to live at Capsule Corp with her and her parents after the incident on Planet Namek. Rubbing a temple, Bulma forced a smile. "What am I supposed to do about it in the meantime, Daddy?"

Mr. Briefs typed in a few last orders to the computer then pushed the keyboard aside, standing to his feet. Stretching his arms he scratched his graying mustache. Smiling kindly at his daughter, he placed a hand around her shoulders. "How about you help your mother fix up dinner? I don't want to live on takeout." He tweaked her nose.

Bulma giggled, still a witty teenager in many ways. "Okay." The two great minds left their improved lab, walking down the hall to this front of the house and kitchen. Bulma had her hands crossed. She was wearing a white tank top with the words _Capsule Corp _written across the top, blue-jeans and her everyday-wear-and-tear shoes. Tucking some of her blue hair behind a ear, the fair blue-eyed woman turned her head to her dad. He was still wearing his lab suit, black-rimmed glasses and a tool stuck in his pocket. The only thing missing was his cat that often perched on his shoulder. 

"How's the Freezer coming?" Bulma questioned her elder. He scratched his chin. 

"I've gotten some more basics done, the radiator and emitter still need to be placed inside. Some of the wiring is a bit of a hassle. The structure is coming along good though. But lately I've been wanting to see if I can make some improvements on the Gravity Room-"

Bulma scoffed. "Did Vegeta demand you update it AGAIN?"

Mr. Briefs shook his head. "He's asked, but I'm doing this more for me than him. I want to update it so I can get some new blueprints of the design and see if I can make that Gravity Warper I've been wanting to start."

Bulma fell into thought as they passed a bathroom. She could hear her mother faintly singing in the kitchen with the TV blaring. Their house was pretty large, since they were 'pretty' rich. Still, Bulma liked the simple things, too.

"I have an idea!" Bulma announced as she took her father by the shoulder and turned him to face her. "How about I work on the Freezer and you work on the GR? I have the blueprints you gave me for it..." 

__

And that way I won't have to worry about being in that dang gravity room with Vegeta! Bulma thought merrily.

Mr. Briefs frowned, thinking. "I don't know, it's a very delicate project..."

Bulma was becoming desperate now. "Pleeease Daddy? I've really wanted to work on it, I'll show it to you after I'm done I swear!" It was then she decided to lay on the guilt. "You never let me try to improve anything you do, and I have some good ideas..."

Mr. Briefs sighed. "Okay, you can work on it." Bulma squealed as Mr. Briefs continued; "But this doesn't have anything to do with Vegeta, does it?"

"What doesn't have anything to do with me?"

Bulma's blood ran cold, then coursed like fire through her at the all-too familiar voice. The voice that was so demanding and...

__

Was I about to think 'sexy'? Bulma wondered. _Dear Kami, I really do need to get away from him._

"Oh, Vegeta!" Mr. Briefs stated, surprised. "We were just talking about the GR updates and Warper. Dinner's about to be ready. Joining us?"

Vegeta emerged from the shadows sporting his Badman shirt and clothing, his onyx eyes studying Bulma and her father critically. "Yes. Afterwards I'm training and no one is to disturb me, especially the onna." 

Bulma snorted. "Too bad, I'm not going to stay around your carcass much lately because I've got stuff to work on. Besides, Dad's going to start working on the GR room today and you can't be in there when he does!"

Vegeta growled at the woman who was the only one that dared snap back at him. "Then the update had better be quick and efficient, or I'll find somewhere ELSE to train."

Bulma frowned, not liking that idea. The picture of ki balls flying through the walls of her house was not a pretty one. "Whatever, Vegee-tah." Tugging on her father's shirt she pulled the startled scientist into the kitchen. Mrs. Briefs was fixing up some rice, humming happily as they entered. Vegeta followed, scowling and getting as far away as he could; which was the other side of the room.

"Oh, dinner will be ready in just a snatch! So what have you three been doing today?" Bulma's mother asked chirpily as she put some water on to boil. 

Mr. Briefs seated himself at the nearest table, leaning back and yawning. "Bulma's volunteered to work on the Freezer for me, while I update the GR room," he responded as he sent a wink to his daughter.

Vegeta frowned as he leaned against the corner of the room, absently watching the TV. _That human didn't mention anything about a 'Freezer'. I know about the Warper, but not this. I'll just have to find out from that baka onna herself, _he scoffed mentally.

Bulma giggled again, ruffling her father's head as she went to take a seat by him. She was purposely acting giddy to grind Vegeta's last nerve. She knew it was working when she saw him scowl deeply when she glanced over. 

"Baka onna," Vegeta mumbled at the gross display of family interaction.

-_-_-_-

Bulma peered closer at the fragile wires in front of her. Using her special tweezers, she leaned down to inspect the red wire better. "Wire A7-9, right? Locks into port G..." She was sweaty, hair plastered against her face as she bit her lip. Her dad was right- the Freezer WAS a very delicate project. Sitting alone in the second lab, the creation sitting on the table in front of her, it looked simple. Wrong. She had soon discovered- after 30 minutes of craning down and working fervently on it- that it was no easy job. Luckily her father had done a majority of the work, and she was patching up the final details. Working under the guidance of a single light placed on the table helped, since the shiny metal of the creation didn't glint as bad.

The blissful solitude was shattered when all of the lights snapped on and Bulma squeaked, rocking backwards and shielding her eyes with tweezers in hand. A flailing foot nearly caused the table to tilt backwards. She held her breath as the table righted itself, and she turned toward the open door.

"YOU IDIOT!!!" Bulma screamed at the intruder. "WHO IN HIGH HELL TOLD YOU THAT YOU COULD JUST BARGE INTO A LAB WHEN SOMEONE'S WORKING?!!"

Vegeta smirked. "Screaming is a sign of weakness. I want to know what you're working on."

Bulma snorted, brushing a lose strand of hair back into her ponytail. "None of your business."

Anger flared in the saiyajin. "It IS my business, foolish onna!" He phased by her, snatching at the collar of her lab coat. "You never told me anything about a Freezer! And I know you've been avoiding me all day, especially when you moved the invention down here to the second lab to complete it! And since you've been avoiding me, I know it must be something of some importance!"

Bulma sneered at the saiyajin, though her heart was hammering away. _Remember what Daddy said..._

"Patience is a virtue," she mimicked in his voice from earlier. Vegeta scowled, dropping her and striding over to the table.

"Then I suppose I should blow this miserable creation to pieces," the saiyajin remarked as he lifted a hand as a golden ki ball began to form.

Bulma's eyes widened as she leaped off the ground. "NO YOU DON'T!! I've been working my behind off getting that thing completed!!"

Vegeta turned to face the human female, his smirk growing as he let his hand drop and ki ball dissipate. "Then tell me what it is."

Bulma sighed, shooting Vegeta a glare as she walked over to the Freezer, closing the lid and straightening out her coat. It looked like a simple sphere with an opening at one end, filled with a glassy substance. "Since you're going to be a pesky monkey and follow me around everywhere anyway with the GR room off limits, I might as well tell you," she spat. "It's an invention my dad thought up and started to work on off and on after he completed the GR room. It's supposed to be used in battle to stun the mind of the creature it's directed at. It emits an invisible beam that freezes up their train of thought for at least five minutes. During that time they are extremely vulnerable because they can't think clearly. Happy now?"

Her explanation only heightened Vegeta's foul mood. "A machine used in a fight? Since when would a warrior rely on a machine in a battle?!"

Bulma gritted her teeth. "If you'd put aside your pride you might see this would help you!"

Vegeta suddenly smiled. His mood changed so quickly Bulma was scared.

"Test it on me," Vegeta ordered.

Bulma perked an eyebrow. "Why? And the answer is no. It hasn't been proofed."

Vegeta took a menacing step forward. "You say it affects the mind. Test it on me and see if I can overcome it. It's mental training, baka. Without the GR I have to do something to keep myself sane!"

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Whatever Vegee-tah," she drawled. "It's dangerous. I have to let my dad look over it before we can test it!"

But Vegeta was not one for patience. He snatched the Freezer from the table, but some of the wires were still loose. A single wire hit the lamp and it burst, sparks flying in every direction as the Freezer glowed fervently, electricity shooting through the lab as a bright light seethed from the small machine, a deep humming sound booming inside Bulma's head as she felt pain wrack her body. 

The light faded.

Bulma crumpled to the ground as darkness took it's place as she thought she saw Vegeta gasp and crumple too.

Darkness.


	2. Chapter Two: Recovery, Realization

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Disclaimer: I do not own this program.

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((A/N: I'm going to be introducing some Japanese words from now on. Definitions can be found at the end of the chapter. ^^))

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'Old Vegeta' thought.

'Present day Vegeta' thought.

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What We Knew

Chapter Two: Recovery, Realization

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"Suiitohaato*?"

Light...

Bulma frowned mentally. It had been dark last time she-

Panic rushed through her. Last time?? Where was she? What was going on?

Mr. Briefs let lose the breath he had been holding as he saw his daughter's eyes flutter. "Bulma dear!" he exclaimed as she groaned. Her forehead was wrapped in a bandages, and all she could see was white sheets and her father's face hovering over her bedside. Her vision swirled as she tried to straighten her fogged sight. Raising an aching hand to her cheek, she turned her eyes to Mr. Briefs. "Daddy...? What happened...?"

Mr. Briefs smiled daftly, places a cool cloth on his daughter's head. "Don't talk. You've got to let your body recover from the shock. When you wake up next time I'll tell you what happened, okay?"

Bulma sighed, closing her eyes. "But Dad..." she argued, "I'm not sleepy..."

Mr. Briefs chuckled as he watched his daughter fall into slumber once more. She reminded him of the young girl she once used to be. Now she was a young woman and an aspiring young scientist. Stroking a few strands of her brilliant blue hair behind her ear, he breathed a sigh of relief. Her wounds were not serious, though her right side had been damaged more than her left. He was weary from the terror that had gripped him when he had found Vegeta's and Bulma's bodies on the floor of Lab 2, along with an extensively damaged Freezer. 

The saiyajin prince was in better condition, which Mr. Briefs found unnatural. Indeed, HE had been the one to receive most of the explosive power of the Freezer. This worried Mr. Briefs to such an extent that he rose to go check on the saiyajin for the fifth time today. He had been placed in one of his special emergency rooms, recovering from burns along his left side and back.

But Mr. Briefs was stopped when the looming shadow spilled through the door. Looking up into the black abyss eyes, Mr. Briefs gasped. "Vegeta?"

The prince had tape along his cheek, his left arm in bandages. His clothes were a bit worn and burned but otherwise okay. Vegeta snorted in his usual greeting to the good doctor. "Of course it's me. Who else would it be, human?"

Mr. Briefs straightened his glasses, regaining his composure. "You shouldn't be up and about at such an early stage in your recovery, Vegeta. Who knows what damage you've received..."

Vegeta smirked. "Only minor flesh wounds, old man. I'm perfectly PERFECT. Now stop pestering me. I came to check on that foolish onna** to see if she was in any condition to speed along the update of the GR."

Mr. Briefs was about to make a comment on how rude that was, even against his better judgment, when his wife made an appearance. She was still humming, his Capri pants and sunflower shirt blending with her binned blonde hair. She was carrying a tray of hot cocoa, even though it was not cold outside. "Oh hey dearies!" she exclaimed merrily as she walked by Vegeta, handing him a cup. She then gave one to her husband, setting the tray on a table that stood on her sleeping daughter's side of the bed. Mr. Briefs coughed briefly. Besides Bulma, his wife was the only other person Vegeta never really disrespected in a serious manner (though he pretended to with Bulma, or so was Mr. Brief's observation). She seemed too happy to be bothered with any of the saiyajin's snide comments.

Vegeta wrinkled his nose at the liquid presented to him, but said nothing as Mrs. Briefs questioned her husband.

"Is Bulma going to be okay, dearest?" she asked, concerned. "What a nasty cut..." she added as she stroked her daughter's forehead.

Mr. Briefs shook his head, though not in a negative manner. Mainly in disbelief. "Amazingly she's doing fine. No serious wounds. Just a little shock in her nervous system and some minor burns. Seems the electrical output from the combustion of the Freezer was massive- amazing Vegeta came out barely scratched as well-" Mr. Briefs didn't acknowledge the prideful gleam in the saiyajin's eye- "- even though the charges released were immense. The Freezer's in bad shape, it might be impossible to reconstruct it. Bulma will be awake tomorrow and ready to begin work in another day or so."

Mrs. Briefs sighed happily. "Wonderful! And oh, it's so nice to see this handsome young man coming to check up on our daughter!" Mrs. Briefs stated as she motioned toward Vegeta.

Mr. Briefs nearly choked on his cocoa as Vegeta allowed a single sweat-drop to roll down the side of his face. "I only came to see if she was in the shape to update the GR," Vegeta growled defensively. 

"And she WON'T be in shape until at least three or four days," Mr. Briefs responded curtly. "I'll work on it in the meanwhile." The scientist paused, fearful of his own hostility toward the young prince. "Surely you can make yourself useful somewhere else? Perhaps find some other way for you to train?"

Vegeta snorted again. "Whatever it is, it's certainly not going to be around you humans..."

With that, Vegeta marched out the door.

Mrs. Briefs rubbed her nose. "Oh my, he won't look very homely with those bandages on his arms, dearest!"

As if Vegeta could read her mind, he tore the bandages off his arm and dropped them on the living room floor as he exited Capsule Corp.

-_-_-_-

After an hour of searching for nearby groups of forest, Vegeta found a suitable spot. It was a bit closer to the Son's house than Capsule Corp, it was a peaceful glade with plenty of silence for him to train his mind.

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Damn it, if I can't train my body I will train my mind! Baka onna, had to keep that moronic clump of metal a secret from me! If it hadn't of been for that, none of this would have happened and that weakling wouldn't be laid up in bed. Now the GR can't be upgraded until at least three more days! Vegeta thought angrily. He had a mind to blast the nearest tree, but in doing that he would be releasing ki energy. And if he did THAT, then one of the other Z senshi would probably feel it and...ugh. 

Vegeta grumbled, his sharp-eyed glare sending forest creature scattering to get away from the strange creature that dared invade their forest. Landing quietly, Vegeta stood regally in the middle of the open patch of woods that surrounded him. It was well in the middle of the afternoon- the sun's rays were bathing the ground and treetops in the golden glow. Vegeta stood silently, closing his eyes but his scowl remained. His senses were keen, and he was indeed alone.

Or so he thought.

**__**

Why the hell do you put up with this? 

Vegeta frowned at his thoughts. Why did he put up with this?

**__**

What, you're agreeing with me now? Can't you make up your mind? How very stupid. Can't even keep your damned thoughts straight. Or should I say my thoughts?

Vegeta snarled, whirling around to search for the source of the familiar voice that echoed through his mind. 

Nothing but the sound of birds lifting from their perches in the trees was heard.

Warily (and agitatedly), Vegeta resumed his previous position- standing straight, arms folded. Whoever possessed the telepathic voice heard in his mind, they would have to show themselves eventually, and he was in NO mood to be toyed with. _Hell, no one toys with me, _Vegeta thought snidely.

**__**

Exactly, yet I'm doing such a good job.

The voice, far too familiar to be comforting. Cold, hard and wickedly twisted into some kind of sick humor...

Vegeta did not lack intelligence. He knew the voice was coming from him, from HIS mind. But he didn't want to face it. And that only made his anger mount to the peak of its levels. But it was masking something- confusion.

A twinge of fear.

**__**

What the hell have I turned in to?

-_-_-_-

Bulma sighed dreamily, her eyes lingering to the movement of the white curtains swaying in the breeze that traveled through her open window. Diverting her gaze once more to the book in her hands, she snuggled comfortably under the covers.

Mr. Briefs chose that moment to walk in to check on Bulma, and he was rewarded with her alertness. "Bulma! You're awake!" A smile lit his features.

Bulma peered over her book, an eyebrow perked in mock-anger. "Of course I am, Dad! Think one little incident could keep me down?"

Mr. Briefs seated himself on the edge of her bed, chuckling. "Well, I should have expected as much from you. By this rate you should be able to work on the GR in just a day or two!"

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Mighty Veggie's request?" Her aqua eyes then narrowed in a frown. "How is he doing, anyway?"

Mr. Briefs rubbed his nose. "Fine, I suppose. Left before I could do a complete test. You know how he is. Went off to train somewhere nearby with the GR out of order. He hardly had a scratch on him."

Bulma scoffed. "That's Vegeta alright! How much longer until I can get out of bed?"

"Wait until morning. Then we can take a peek at the Freezer and see what damage was applied. I still want to check on you before I announce you healthy. We don't know if there are any effects that might pop up later..."

Bulma nodded, understanding. "Okay otokooya***."The blue-haired woman winked. "Thanks for leaving the book by my bed."

Mr. Briefs chuckled. "I'll come back in a moment- I've got to go inform your mother of how well you're doing!" With that the scientist left the room, leaving his daughter to wallow in her romance novel.

"If only life were like this..." Bulma mumbled dreamily. Her thoughts drifted to Yamcha. Their relationship was resting on a fence at the moment. She wanted to patch it up, but she wanted to let it slide as well. And as she thought of Yamcha, her thoughts drifted to Vegeta.

__

Why think about Vegeta? Bulma thought roughly. _Bah. But I do wonder what he's doing..._

The blue-haired beauty submersed herself in her reading once more.

-_-_-_-

Vegeta had a hand resting against the rough and rotten bark of a tree, his teeth clenched.

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This is impossible! I cannot be two different people!

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Hmph- hard for me to take in too. Stop being so emotional.

I want you OUT of my head- NOW.

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You and I both.

Vegeta growled, his thoughts whirring. Confusion overcame him. He didn't know what to think, what to do.

__

What's your purpose?!

The 'other voice' mentally shrugged.

**__**

Akunomichiheizanau******_? _**It replied snidely.

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*sweetheart

**woman

***father/male parent

****to lead astray/to lure a person to evil ways  
  



	3. Chapter Three: Confusion, Kage

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Disclaimer: I do not own this program.

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~Just when I think on my own 

When I've broken every door 

The ghosts of my life 

Are louder than before 

Just when I thought I could not be stopped 

When my chance came true 

The ghosts of my life 

They bring up memories 

All my time, all my tears

-Ghosts, Tenth Planet_ ~_

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**__**

'Old Vegeta' thought.

'Present day Vegeta' thought.

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What We Knew

Chapter Three: Confusion, Kage

"This is so unrealistic..."

Bulma sighed, setting her book aside. She only had a few more pages to read, but she could already guess the ending. The guy and the girl were going to end up in each other's arms, alone, in love, and live happily ever after. In reality, Bulma believe there was no such thing as a perfect ending. And with her present marital life, it was never. 

Mrs. Briefs entered the room once more, a tray in hand. She set it on the stand by her daughter's bed- it was decorated with a sandwich and some lemonade. "Hubby doesn't think you should eat a lot in your present condition," Mrs. Briefs apologized as she sat down on the bed next to her daughter. "Something about the medicines your taking, but I fixed you a snack!" And then her face lit up with that smile of hers.

Bulma grinned, and proceeded to attack the sandwich mercilessly. "Hnn, thanks Mom!"

Mrs. Briefs beamed. "Oh, don't thank me! Your poor father was so worried about you-" and then, her thoughts drifting as they usually did, Mrs. Briefs changed the subject, "-I wonder where that handsome guest of ours went to?"

Bulma snorted as she downed her lemonade. "Still off training, probably," she replied. 

"Oh!" Mrs. Briefs giggled. "Well, he'd better get in when dinner is ready! I would hate for his food to get cold waiting on him!" 

Bulma couldn't help but roll her eyes. It was nearing afternoon, and if she knew Vegeta, he'd be out training until he couldn't see the nose in front of him. He was obsessed!

Imagine Bulma's surprise when she heard the faint opening an closing of their front door and a familiar snort from the living room.

"Oh! That must be him," Mrs. Briefs giggled. "Let me go fix his plate. I'll see you in just a little bit, dear! Anything else you need?"

Bulma blinked, then settled under her covers again. "No, but thanks." She smiled warmly.

"Okay!" Mrs. Briefs rose from the bed and exited the room to give her daughter more personal time. 

-_-_-_-

Mr. Briefs definitely felt more tension in the air than usual when Vegeta stormed into Capsule Corp. And Mr. Briefs found it even more unusual and unsettling when the disgruntled and rather peeved looking saiyajin prince stormed right over to him while the scientist was lounging in his recliner reading the daily newspaper.

"Human," Vegeta sneered, his lips curled in an almost feral snarl, "I want you to tell me everything you know about that confounded machine that exploded!"

Mr. Briefs cringed slightly at the saiyajin's harsh tone, but wasn't about to give in so easily. "Why?" Mr. Briefs asked, almost casually.

Vegeta's harsh exterior slowly melted, revealing a non-too-happy and dangerous calm that flooded him. "Because," he snarled, "If you do not...something _unsettling _might happen."

Mr. Briefs noted the anger and desperation filled tone in Vegeta's voice from the first word he had spoken. Just a little more curious and a bit more brave, Mr. Briefs blinked then nodded.

"Of course," the scientist blabbered while pushing up his glasses farther onto his nose, "I was merely wondering. Would you like to come to Lab 2 and look at some of the blueprints..?"

Vegeta's face was etched in stone. "Yes," he replied.

Mrs. Briefs chose that moment to enter the living room, empty tray in hand. "Hello, sweetie!" she giggled, waving to her husband. 

Mr. Briefs coughed some and waved, reluctantly, back. Vegeta flinched slightly- he would never get used to that confounded blonde-haired human!

Mrs. Briefs entered the kitchen, the sound of rattling dishes following. "I'm making dinner, it'll be ready in a minute or so! Are you two boys going to be doing anything until then?"

Vegeta looked to Mr. Briefs, who sighed in defeat.

"Yes, honey," Mr. Briefs called out to his wife. "I'm taking Vegeta down to Lab 2 to look at some blueprints. Just call us up when the food's ready, okay?"

"Okay!" Mrs. Briefs chirped.

Vegeta sent a rigid glance to Mr. Briefs. "Let's go," he rasped. His stomach was already making it's familiar growling noise.

-_-_-_-

"This should be it- no, no, that's the blueprints to the toaster..."

Vegeta watched, rather impatiently, as Mr. Briefs rummaged through a desk of drawers, in which each drawer contained different blueprints to various projects he had begun, finished, or had never started on. There must have been hundreds of the documents, either collecting dust or shining with the newness of it being a latest idea.

"Hurry up," Vegeta ordered gruffly. The small closet located in Lab 2 was not helping out his sensitive nose with all this dust. 

**__**

Ki blast him. That should do it, came the sinister voice in the prince's head.

__

That would accomplish nothing, Vegeta retorted. 

**__**

*Snort* Well, why are you looking for blueprints anyway? Curiosity killed the damned cat, you know.

Looking for a way to rid myself of you, came Vegeta's icy reply.

**__**

Hnn, well that's not going to happen. I am you, anyway. Here I am, I wake up, and I'm some sniveling bastard. I'm still trying to figure out what the HELL happened to cause me to...to live with HUMANS on earth!

Vegeta chose not to comment to the aggressive voice, creating a mental block between the two of them. Still, he could hear curses and ramblings of the distant, and yet familiar voice on the other side of the mental wall. 

Vegeta was having a hard time believing that the other voice in his head belonged to him as well. It reminded him of that human syndrome called schizophrenia. Needless to say and yet simpler to relate to, Vegeta was suffering from confusion. And this, of course (knowing that he did _not _know something) made him angry.

The voice seemed to accept the fact that it and Vegeta were the same person. And this left Vegeta feeling even more unsettled. 

Getting an idea as the saiyajin prince blandly watched Mr. Briefs dig about through unsorted papers, Vegeta brought down the mental wall. _Your name is Kage*. _

The other voice was not hesitant in a reply. **_What the hell are you talking about?_**

I refuse to refer to you as myself, so you are Kage.

****

Can't take the truth. I don't care what you call me, because it doesn't deny the fact that I am_ you._

Vegeta responded with a curt revival of the mental wall. Let that blasted personality think what it wanted. _He _wasn't letting anyone, or anything, get in his way!

On all fours, digging through a box of various blueprints, Mr. Briefs called out- "I've found it!"

-_-_-_-

Cautiously taking one step at a time, Bulma inched into the kitchen. The aroma of nearby food was causing her stomach to curl in anticipation. 

Peeking in the living room to see if it was empty, Bulma scanned her placid furniture and slipped through the doorway. Drawing her red robe tightly around herself, Bulma sniffed the air and practically drooled. Forget medicine, she was fine and she was hungry!

Bulma's spy escapade was shattered as Mrs. Briefs walked out of the kitchen, where she had been concealed. She was humming and setting up the table, and didn't seem to mind that her daughter was standing there like a zombie.

"Hello, sweetie!" Mrs. Briefs called out merrily. "I just set the table, your father and that handsome young man should be back any second!" She waved dismissively. "You know how boys are! Why don't you go ahead and take a seat while I fix the tea?"

Bulma closed her gaping mouth, her heart fluttering at the thought of dinner. Mentally she thanked her mom, and for the fact she could always blame her mother if her dad got angry. And she knew her dad could never be angry at her mom. 

So, the blue-haired woman adorned with her pajama-wear and red robe slipped into the nearest seat. Inadvertently, her thoughts wondered to what exactly Mr. Briefs and Vegeta were up to. And how she sort of missed her and Vegeta's verbal sparring matches...

-_-_-_-

Scientific analogies, phrases, concepts and labels skipped through Vegeta's mind as Mr. Briefs hastily explained the purpose and working system of the Freezer.

"And this component here- it send electrical pulses to the Z-negative target here, under the fiber-optic-"

Vegeta interrupted Mr. Briefs with a snort. "Don't prattle in your scientific know-how! All I want to know is- can this contraption warp the mind in such a way that the one it is aimed at can suffer...imbalanced mental difficulties?"

Mr. Briefs stopped, laying the blueprint of the Freezer onto the desk in front of him. "I'm not quite sure, you see...the Freezer was never really tested. It had only just been created!"

Bulma's words from before the Freezer had gone off came back to Vegeta. With a scowl, he brushed her words away. "So, in all of your _intelligence_...you do not know?"

Mr. Briefs pushed his glasses farther onto his nose, as they were slipping with the sweat trickling down his face. "It's a possibility," the scientist replied haltingly. "But why are you so concerned?" Mr. Briefs rolled up the blueprint and turned to face Vegeta, curiosity in his eyes. "You're not suffering from some sort of...problem, are you?"

Vegeta snorted again. _He cannot find out about my condition...I will handle this myself, I NEED no human assistance! _"Hardly," the prince barked. Without further explanation he turned on his heel, his nose already picking up the scent of food. "Don't flatter yourself any further."

Mr. Briefs blinked, sighed, then turned off the desk light and followed Vegeta out of the lab. He would have been greatly surprised, though, if he could hear what Vegeta heard in his mind- the sniggering of Kage, which only added to the already-present anger and konmei**.

-_-_-_-

Mrs. Briefs had just finished setting the table when Vegeta entered, a disgruntled Mr. Briefs following. She giggled and clasped her hands together. "Hiya, honey! You arrived just on time! Oh, and Bulma-dear has joined us, too!"

Bulma shrank back slightly in her chair as her father's sharp gaze was directed at her. _Uh-oh, here comes the guilt... _she thought.

But Mr. Briefs' frown etched itself into a smile. "I should have known nothing could keep my little girl down!" he beamed as he brushed her playfully on the head with a hand.

Bulma smiled in relief as she waved away her dad. "Oh come of it!" she laughed. It was then her attention was turned to Vegeta, who had taken his usual spot in the far corner. 

"You're awake," was all he said.

Bulma couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Of course," she replied, chipper.

**__**

Baka onna.

"Baka onna," Vegeta grumped in reply. 

*shadow/shade/other side

**confusion


	4. Chapter Four: Living, Breathing

****

Disclaimer: No DBZ is owned by me. ***Tra-lala***

__

~Just when I think on my own 

When I've broken every door 

The ghosts of my life 

Are louder than before 

Just when I thought I could not be stopped 

When my chance came true 

The ghosts of my life 

They bring up memories 

All my time, all my tears

-Ghosts, Tenth Planet_ ~_

------------

**__**

'Old Vegeta' thought.

'Present day Vegeta' thought.

------------

****

What We Knew

Chapter Four: Living, Breathing

__

A Week Later... 

Vegeta shifted his weight, and was just growing comfortable in the oversized Capsule Corp bed when the voice woke him again.

**__**

I'm bored.

Flinching, Vegeta growled moodily. "And that is important to me, because?" the saiyajin responded coldly. He had gotten used to talking to Kage verbally as if the thought-voice was physically standing right there in front of him. He may have gotten used to it, but he still didn't like it. It made him look, as humans would say, 'schizophrenic'.

**__**

It's important if I decide to do anything about my boredom, Kage responded, just as moodily. 

Vegeta snorted, glancing to the clock. 1:30 AM?! The saiyajin prince had at LEAST had another hour until he was going out to train. "And what would you plan?" Vegeta sniped. "Let me rest, I have training to do."

That seemed to silence Kage for a moment. **_Training, eh?_**

Vegeta snorted in reply. "Just as I have every day."

**__**

Good.

-_-_-_-

Bulma was up early, adorned in her blue bunny pajamas and padding around in her fluffy, pink house-slippers. A good bowl of cereal sounded good to her.

Even after the Lab 2 accident, Bulma wasn't going to stop strengthening her passion for creating new ideas. Though her father had forbid her to do any serious work this past week, she had been drawing up random ideas for her next project. Her brain couldn't stand the thought of idling.

But there was another thing her brain wasn't idle about. Vegeta. He hadn't acted quite the same ever since the accident. Sure, he was still the pushy arrogant saiyajin he had always been. But there were times his gaze would seem like he was focusing his attention somewhere else, or he was having a conversation within his mind. Gradually Bulma had noticed that he had also begun to train more often and spend less time with her and her parents (though he never spent much time to begin with). Her curiosity had been sparked, and a tinge of worry clouded her drifting thoughts. Though Vegeta denied it, HAD the machine caused him damage?

Bulma was jerked from her thoughts as she realized the milk she had been pouring into her bowl was running over the edge. Slightly embarrassed, she was hastily cleaning up her mess when she heard the soft, padded footsteps coming down the hall.

It still amazed her that for someone so haughty, he had such light footsteps. Glancing up from her cereal, Bulma saw Vegeta enter the kitchen, dressed in his training clothing.

"Hey, Vegeta," she greeted. "Off to train again?"

Vegeta snorted. "I'm STILL waiting for the GR to be upgraded. Tell your baka father to hurry along with the repairs. I grow tired of waiting."

Bulma rolled her eyes. Well, that was a wonderful 'good morning, Bulma'. "Look Vegeta, he's doing his best, why don't you appreciate that he's trying??"

"He could do better," Vegeta responded snippily as he threw open the refrigerator and grabbed the carton of milk. Without thinking twice he downed the entire thing in a few gulps. Bulma stared idly at him before snapping out of her trance. 

"You baka! Someone might have wanted that for breakfast!"

Vegeta smirked, wiping his mouth. "Too bad." Without a flinch he tossed the carton of milk at the blue-haired scientist and sauntered out.

Bulma stood there, fuming as the milk carton landed at her feet. That worthless, no good, conniving...

-_-_-_-

...baka!

Bah, who did she think she was, ordering the prince of all saiyajins around??

**__**

You should have shown the wench her place. You really don't think just throwing a MILK carton is going to do it, do you?!

"I try not to damage her when I can, she's the one who creates new training regimes and assists her patter in developing new technology...but if that baka onna pushes it..."

Bah. Vegeta scowled. Almost sounded like he was sticking up for that pathetic human.

**__**

Kill her, keep the father. That weakling would do anything you wanted, if pushed...

Vegeta put up a mental wall between he and Kage. He just didn't feel like arguing right then. He had to focus on training.

Vegeta had tried using what humans call a 'punching bag'. To no avail, of course. The bag had burst upon his first punch. So Vegeta had demanded Mr. Briefs create a better developed punching bag that could withstand the pressure. Mr. Briefs temporarily took time off the GR, which was still in need of much work, to create the new punching bag in minimal time. Though it was high-tech, could withstand the punches, and was programmed to zip around the extra training room that had been installed, it still did not give as much of a challenge as the GR had. But Vegeta, keeping tabs on his and Kage's patience, tried to keep himself from thinking about that blasted GR.

Growing used to Kage at first had been quite complicated. But then slowly it had gotten easier. Kage was, as far as Vegeta understood, another part of him that had been re-awakened. And to sustain his level of sanity, Vegeta decided Kage wasn't real at all and really just some manifestation of his imagination.

Standing there, in this adjacent training room with bare walls, flush navy carpet with a solitary and rather normal-looking punching bag suspended in the center from a length of gears that could send it speeding around the room, Vegeta gave a hefty sigh. Damned woman...all his anger boiled down to her. Sometimes he envision HER as the punching bag.

But she had never truly done anything to earn his hatred in the first place. He was really just confused, and Kage's presence wasn't helping.

**__**

Hurry up, Kage instructed, irritably. He was eager to get the training started.

"I'm doing so," Vegeta responded icily as he made his way over to the control consol positioned on the wall to his left. He knew Kage's urge to train...every saiyajin had that urge, but...

Hnn. Kage seemed a little...to eager.

Brushing his doubts aside, Vegeta pressed a few odd-colored buttons on the consol. How he loathed this primitive technology. But it was better than meditating for weeks. Though strengthening his mind probably should have been one of the first things on the ouji's mind.

The consol had levels set, ranging from easiest to hardest. Naturally, Vegeta chose the hardest level the system could muster.

"Ready," the system stated, the sound coming from speakers positioned in the corners of the room.

Vegeta snorted, striding confidently toward the punching bag hanging suspended in the center of the room. Just as he was about to approach it...

WHAM!

Thanks to his lightning reflexes, Vegeta careened to the side as the activated bag blazed by him in a blur of speed. Turning on a dime, it launched itself to the side and careened wildly across the room.

"Hmph!!" Vegeta launched himself after it, estimating which way it would take next. Phasing in front of it, he launched his fist at its center.

But in a moment of mechanical estimation, the punching bag swerved to the side. Vegeta's first just barely nicked it.

"Niamisu*!" the system announced. With a growl, Vegeta launched himself after the punching bag again.

Meanwhile, a certain blue-haired scientist was padding quietly to the room. Oh, she was going to give that no good saiyajin a piece of her mind!

It did take a good deal of confidence before she managed to quietly open the door. Peeking inside, her wide cerulean eyes caught the sight of Vegeta getting into a vicious display of speed and calculation with their automatic system they had installed.

__

-Wow...- She couldn't HELP but notice the way his muscles were so well toned, or that victorious gleam in his eye when he landed a punch, or the way he was so swift...

__

-Whoa! Bulma girl! Snap out of it! THIS IS THE GUY WHO THREW THE MILK AT YOU!- Immediately Bulma snapped out of her trance.

At that same moment, Vegeta snarled as the bag swerved away again, rocketing towards the other side of the room. He still had not seen or sensed Bulma enter. In agitation, he flipped backwards and thrust out his hands, sending a miniature ki blast swerving wildly to catch up with the punching bag.

It took Bulma a minute to realize the bag was really close to her proximity, and that a ki blast was also headed that way.

"...AHHH!" She squealed, jerking backwards and yanking the door closed as the ki blast crashed into the punching bag, tearing it off of its gears and sending it clamming into the door she had just closed.

Vegeta lowered his hands, frowning. What the hell..?

**__**

That damned onna! Kage howled in his mind as he caught the whiff of shampoo in the air. Vegeta felt red-hot anger bubble up within him.

Growling like a POed panther, Vegeta sauntered over to the door and ripped the charred punching bag away before yanking the door open, nearly tearing it off it's hinges. And sure enough, there was Bulma, crouched against the far side of the wall with her hair frizzed and eyes wide.

It took Bulma a moment to realize that she had narrowly escaped serious injury, and the cause of that near serious injury was glowering right down at her. And as usual, anger kicked in.

"YOU STUPID MONKEY!!" Bulma screeched, leaping to her feet. She pointed frantically behind Vegeta, indicated the mutilated door and the punching bag beyond that. "You-you-you-your DESTROYING the entire house!!"

Vegeta smirked. It was so amusing when the stupid woman got all mad. But he was also angry.

"Who told you to spy on my training?!" he barked.

"It's MY HOUSE!" Bulma yelled back, forgetting she was just in her pajamas and just a few minutes ago she had practically been drooling over this destructive Neanderthal. "In case you've FORGOTTEN!"

"I wouldn't have to be using this confounded contraption in the FIRST place if you had the GR working!" Vegeta snapped back, wrist flexing. In the back of his mind he felt Kage idly watching, a mental barrier Kage himself had put up to keep Vegeta from reading his thoughts.

"We've already talked about that!" A frustrated Bulma announced. She felt like tearing off her fuzzy slipper and smacking Vegeta with it. But of course she couldn't do that, unless she just particularly WANTED to die right then.

**__**

Then get it DONE, wench!

In the spur of a moment, the very words Kage had snapped within Vegeta's mind poured out of Vegeta's own mouth.

"Then get it DONE, wench!"

Bulma blinked, her voice failing her as the words lashed out at her from the saiyajin before her. His face was twisted into a mask of icy rage, wrists clenched and his onyx eyes flaring dangerously. For a split second, Bulma was transported back to Planet Namek.

"Vegeta...?" she asked meekly, obviously shaken by the sudden spastic change in his attitude. Her very voice seemed to die against the tension that suddenly sparked thickly between them.

Vegeta growled, suddenly his expression unreadable, and angrily brushing by Bulma- though careful not to send her flying- and disappeared down the hall.

Bulma let her hands unclench from each other and fall to her sides. She only vaguely looked at the shredded door and punching bag in front of her. She was still seeing Vegeta standing in front of her, and for a minute...

Heh...for a minute, he had looked just like that demon from her past...

*Near-miss


End file.
